


There Ain't No Other Way

by stardust_and_sunlight



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: (was Maura16), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Because it's me, F/F, Les Miserables Winter Holidays Exchange 2015, but also cute, certainly darker than usual, it's kinda dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 15:12:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5460962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardust_and_sunlight/pseuds/stardust_and_sunlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What are you going to do?”<br/>“I’m going to make her kill you,” it said, sounding surprised that she’d asked. “It’s a bit over-used, perhaps, but deliciously twisted all the same, and so easy... simply possess someone, force them to kill the person they love most, release them so they see what they’ve done, and then kill them. "</p>
<p>Cosette and Éponine are hunters, and this particular mission does not go to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There Ain't No Other Way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hyenateeth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyenateeth/gifts).



> HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO MY GIFTEE (is that the right word? I don't know). This is not a very festive fic, but they wanted supernatural element and 'dark' so here we are.  
> This is a lot longer than I intended, and a bit darker than my usual stuff, so I hope you all like it!  
> Yes, Cosette likes One Direction. Yes, this is my second fic in a row named from a 1D song. I'm not denying my extreme trash level.  
> Warnings for blood and gore and injuries and violence- it's not super extreme but it's there- and a scene where a character tries to strangle another. (This is So Much darker than all my other stuff HOW DO I TAG I'M SORRY)  
> 

Éponine and Cosette were in a train. Again. Not that Éponine particularly disliked trains-in fact, she rather liked travelling by train. No traffic, no airport security... But sometimes she thought that Combeferre was taking the piss when he gave out assignments. It seemed like whenever Cosette and Éponine were paired together, they had to get the train. And Cosette... Well, Cosette tended to fall asleep on trains. All the time. Immediately after the train pulled away, Cosette was out like a light.

And Éponine _of course_ had seen Cosette asleep more times than she could count- napping with her head in her hand during a particularly long briefing; sprawled out on any vaguely horizontal surface after a difficult mission; conked out in their first proper bed in weeks; catching a few winks standing upright at a stakeout... In their line of business you had to be able to sleep anywhere, and Cosette was better at it than most. Everyone had tripped over her at least once while she’d been sleeping in a peculiar place. Bossuet had once fallen down the stairs because she was asleep on the landing, for some inexplicable reason.

It was just that Cosette sleeping on trains was particularly adorable. And one day it was going to cause Éponine to lose her frosty, tough demeanour (not that she really had one around Cosette. No-one could sustain that around Cosette for long, the girl just had that effect on people), and she was going to blurt out something that would ruin their friendship and possibly risk the safety of the mission.

So here they were, half an hour into a nine hour train journey from Paris to Glasgow, and Cosette was already fast asleep, using Éponine’s shoulder as a pillow, and occasionally making tiny snuffling noises. Éponine sighed, smiling fondly down at Cosette, and then she opened her book and started reading. It was going to be a long journey.

********

They arrived at the station in the middle of the night, Cosette finally blinking awake as the train pulled to a halt, bleary-eyed people all around them picking up belongings and stretching.

Éponine smiled down at Cosette, who rubbed her eyes and yawned. “We’re there then, I take it,” she said, voice raspy. Éponine slid her book into her bag and nodded, climbing stiffly to her feet and reaching overhead to haul down their suitcases.

Cosette wrinkled her nose, sliding out of the cramped seat and hefting her heavy rucksack over her shoulder. “You should have woken me up,” she said accusingly. “I didn’t mean to sleep the whole time. Were you bored? Did you get some rest?”

Éponine hid a smile at the concerned tone, swinging down the second suitcase and grimacing at the weight. “Yeah, I rested a bit, I read some of my book, and Combeferre sent me some information on the schali we’re here to deal with, so I read up on that.” She grabbed the handle of the suitcase and wheeled it along the passage of the train, Cosette following behind with the other one. They stepped out onto the platform and winced at the sudden influx of noise and people.

“The hotel isn’t too far from here,” Éponine said loudly, to be heard over what was a surprisingly bustling train station considering the late hour. “I can update you on the mission and the schali on the way, if you want? Or you can read up on it when we’re there, I might go for a nap, we probably want to do some recon in the daylight so we can rest tonight?”

Cosette still looked groggy and not fully awake as they made their way to the ticket barrier and through, Éponine glancing at the map on her phone to try and get her bearings.

“Yeah, that sounds fine,” Cosette said, stifling another yawn (she might be able to sleep anywhere, but it took her ages to wake up). “You can sleep and I’ll get everything sorted. Check the place out in the morning, maybe we can even get in some sightseeing in the afternoon, and then tackle the schali at night, home the next day.”

Éponine laughed. “You make it sound so simple,” she said, and then pointed to one of the exits from the station. “That way, I think.”

“To be fair, it usually is simple,” Cosette said. “Because we’re both great hunters,” she grinned smugly, and Éponine gave her a sharp look.

“We’ve been lucky,” she said, and Cosette frowned at her.

“Well, yes. But also we’re good, you have to admit that,” she said.

Éponine smiled reluctantly. “Okay, I admit it, we are good. But we can’t get cocky.”

Cosette laughed and elbowed Éponine in the ribs. “Don’t _worry,_ ” she said seriously. “It’ll be fine. So where’s the hotel?”

********

Éponine woke up early the next morning, well rested and relaxed. The hotel wasn’t the nicest they’d ever stayed in, but it was far from the worst (that dubious honour went to a truly atrocious hostel they’d been forced to stay in for five days in Pisa) and the bed was clean and relatively comfy.

“Good morning!” Cosette said cheerfully, and Éponine sat up, looking over at her. She was sitting on the floor, the suitcases open in front of her, clothes and toiletries piled unceremoniously on a chair and the fake bottoms open, displaying an intensive selection of weapons of all shapes and sizes. She had all of the knives and swords out and was carefully sharpening them, the faint strains of a pop song coming from the earphones she had pulled out of her ears when Éponine had woken up.

“What are you listening to?” Éponine asked curiously- Cosette had an incredibly eclectic music taste and Éponine could never guess what she would be listening to on any one day.

“The new One Direction album came out yesterday, and it’s so good,” she gushed (really. Gushed), and Éponine laughed.

“Play your favourite for me then, go on,” she said, climbing out of the bed and stretching, grabbing some clothes from the pile as Cosette unplugged her headphones and clicked on a song, putting the iPod carefully down besides her and picking up another knife, looking at it critically.

Éponine smiled and went into the bathroom, leaving the door ajar as the song started, upbeat and happy. She dressed quickly, brushing her teeth as the chorus built.

_“...and all I know at the end of the day, is you love who you love, there ain’t no other way...”_

Éponine smirked, a quirk of the lips. Of course One Direction lyrics were relatable to her now. She sighed, rinsing her toothbrush and going back into the room. Cosette was singing quietly along, sharpening an already brutally sharp knife.

“It’s pretty good,” she conceded, and Cosette looked up, grinning smugly.

“I think it’s great monster killing music,” she said, “and on that note, shall we go and have a scout about?”

Éponine nodded, and Cosette flipped the knife she was holding up into the air. Éponine plucked it out of its graceful arc with ease. “At least it’s sunny!”

********

It started raining when they were standing outside the building that the schali was supposedly hiding in, and Cosette punched Éponine in the arm.

“You jinxed it,” she said, and Éponine winced, rubbing her arm.

“Come on,” she said, laughing, “you can’t say you weren’t prepared.”

Cosette glared at her and then reached into her bag, pulling out a colourful umbrella and opening it, holding it over her own head and sticking her tongue out at Éponine as she tried to get under too.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit conspicuous?” Éponine asked, pulling up her hood and grimacing as the rain picked up, a horrible drizzly rain guaranteed to soak you through.

Cosette scoffed. “Look around,” she said, “we’re not going to get noticed.”

And Éponine grudgingly admitted that she may have a point. They were in the middle of the university campus, standing on the main road, looking up at the derelict church they were scoping out. And all around them were students, dressed in everything from sportswear to fancy clothes to casual clothes, talking to friends or on the phone or listening to music, in groups or by themselves, walking fast or sauntering along, with umbrellas or hoods up or just braving the weather. They were just another two young people in the crowd.

“Okay, so Combeferre’s intel says the schali has been working in there. Four students have gone missing, presumed dead. Police have no leads. There’s an informant in the city who’s been keeping an eye on it- she’s not a hunter but her father was and she updates Ferre when she can, adds to his database, you know.”

Éponine laughed. “I read the briefing too, you know,” she said, banging her shoulder against Cosette’s.

Cosette pouted. “Let me feel like a cool person giving a speech, okay?”

Éponine smiled. “I’m sorry, keep going,” she said, smirking.

“Anyway, we don’t know anything specifically about this schali, but in general they have weak mind control powers, too weak to truly influence anyone but, well. Drunk people are much more easily influenced. A tiny nudge in the right direction, and then they’re in the schali’s clutches.”

“A bit dramatic, surely?” Éponine said, and Cosette sighed.

“I can’t believe Combeferre sent us after a schali. We’re better than that.”

Éponine frowned. “Don’t get cocky,” she warned, and Cosette sobered up, her tone becoming more serious.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I know. I’m just irritated because it’s rainingand students have died and we can’t act until tonight and what if someone else dies?”

“It’ll be okay,” Éponine said soothingly. “We’ll get back here the second it turns dark, and we’ll take it out no worries, okay? It’ll be fine.”

Cosette smiled weakly, and Éponine slung an arm around her shoulders. “You wanna go into the city? It’s really quite pretty; I came here once on a job with R, there was a nest of vampires.”

Cosette grinned. “Sounds good,” she said, and they turned away from the dilapidated building, huddled close under the bright umbrella.

********

It was dusk, and they were in their room, happy and relaxed after a fun day wandering about and being tourists, strapping on knives and guns and various other weapons to their bodies. Cosette was blasting her One Direction CD, and Éponine couldn’t help her grin as Cosette sang along.

They were well-fed and well-rested and ready to go, and they were feeling confident as they left the hotel, chatting and gossiping and pretending to just be two tourists going out for dinner, in case anyone was watching them (unlikely, but better safe than sorry). The rain had stopped, although it was still cold, and the walk was relatively pleasant, and before too long, they were there.

Éponine felt the familiar and expected thrill of fear run through her as they approached the abandoned building. Beside her, Cosette had fallen silent, running her hands over her weapons as if checking they were still there.

“You okay?” Éponine said softly, and Cosette smirked at her, a familiar expression.

“I’m going to get it before you do,” she said, grinning, and Éponine laughed, her tension falling away.

“Good luck with that,” she said, and then Cosette was very carefully pushing open the broken back door they’d found this morning, and then they were in.

Cosette reached out and took Éponine’s hand, squeezing tightly as a silent gesture of good luck, and then she let go and drew her knife, Éponine following suit, and then, with a flash of a smile in the darkness, she was gone.

********

Éponine moved silently through the cold dark rooms. She had a knife in each hand and seven more strapped to her body, three fully loaded pistols, one with silver bullets, some holy water and a stake (you can never be too careful) and yet she felt uneasy and worried and on edge. She couldn’t explain it, but after years hunting monsters she’d learned to trust her instincts and she didn’t like this. She didn’t like it at all.

And she didn’t know _why._ Sure, she and Cosette shouldn’t really have split up, especially when dealing with a creature that they didn’t have great intel on and that neither of them had experience with, but they’d done it before and been fine and Cosette had been excited and to be honest they’d both been a bit cocky and over-confident and it was hard to remember why it had seemed like a good idea when she was here, in this musty creepy house, separated from her team member.

She wasn’t scared of the dark. You couldn’t be, not really. She wasn’t overly scared of monsters, even- after all, she was heavily armed and well trained and very experienced... but she couldn’t deny it. She was freaked out.

And so when the scream came, she was half expecting it. But her heart still plummeted and a flood of terror chilled her to the bone and the only thought in her mind was _Cosette_ and she was running, sprinting through the building without a worry for herself or her safety, just a frantic litany of _Cosette Cosette Cosette Cosette_

And then she burst into the room and relief shot through her as she saw Cosette standing there in the corner, near a dusty window, arms hanging by her side, seemingly unhurt.

“Shit, Cosette,” Éponine exhaled, stepping further into the room. “Are you alright? What happened?” And then she drew closer to Cosette, and saw her eyes, which were terribly, _terribly_ blank.

She took an involuntary step back, her relief fading faster than it had arrived, leaving her cold and horrified. “Cosette?”

But Cosette looked at her without any sign of recognition, and her eyes which were usually so expressive were devoid of any emotion and then there was a noise behind Éponine and she whirled around, a knife in her hand, to see-

Well, she didn’t know what it was. A vaguely humanoid shape, taller than her, too deep in the dark corner for her to get a proper look, but twisted, and emanating a sense of complete and utter dejection.

“What are you?” Éponine said, striving to keep her voice strong and her hand steady. But it was hard, with Cosette compromised (oh god Cosette was compromised) and unresponsive at her back and a creature she couldn’t identify in front of her... “What have you done?”

And then the figure started to cackle, and the sound turned Éponine’s mind blank with terror. She barely noticed that she’d dropped the knife until the handle hit her foot, shocking her out of it. And then she realised that the creature was in her head, messing with her emotions, and she yelled in horror, stumbling backwards and turning towards Cosette, trying to keep her mind free from the influence of the monster as she realised, panic-stricken, that Cosette was somehow under its control.

“What are you?” she said, unable to conceal the tremor in her voice as she moved backwards, positioning herself so she could see both Cosette and the shadowy, indistinct figure.

The creature stepped forward, seeming to shake off the shadows that concealed it, and Éponine gasped in horror. It was tall, with spindly arms and legs, and its eyes were dark and cruel and where its mouth should be there was just a gaping hole. Hardly the worst monster she had seen, but with Cosette blank and still in the corner…

The creature spoke, its voice harsh and chilling. “I do not have a name in your tongue,” it said, “you will not have heard of me.” Éponine rolled her eyes involuntarily. Monsters always did this- assumed they had done no research and that their name was unpronounceable to humans.

“But it doesn’t matter what I am. Because I have control of your friend, and you are both going to die.”

“I doubt it,” snapped Éponine, but now she was scared. This was not the common schali they had come here expecting. They had minor mind control powers, but not ones as absolute as this. They’d all had intense mind training after the scare with Grantaire and they were strong and Cosette had been particularly good at it and she was just _standing there_.

This was bad.

“Regardless,” the creature drawled (and Éponine didn’t know how the creaking voice _drawled_ , but it did, insolent and lazy, as if it didn’t care what was happening), “I’m more powerful than anything you’ve ever experienced, and there’s no point reaching for one of those pathetic little toys you have, little one. I am faster than you and stronger and I have control of your friend, and that, I think, is the main thing.”

Éponine dropped her hand back to her side, feeling angry and so so impotent because the monster was right. She wouldn’t risk Cosette.

“What do you want?” she hissed, and the monster laughed.

“I just want to have a bit of fun,” it said, “and also kill you both. Like I killed all those other people, and that’s why you’re here, isn’t it. I killed those people and you found out and maybe you’re thinking I was careless but I wasn’t.”

Éponine stared at it. “We’re here, aren’t we? We found out and we tracked you down, so you’re pretty fucking careless, aren’t you, if we’re here?” But she felt a glimmer of doubt.

“Yes, you are here. And you will die, and others will come, and _they_ will die, and I will keep feeding. I do love this century. You’re all so fearless. And you’ll all die just the same.”

“No we won’t. I won’t let you. You won’t kill anyone else,” Éponine said sharply, drawing her favourite knife, the one that was more like a sword, the one Cosette had sharpened this morning (don’t think about Cosette).

The creature chuckled. “I see you, I hear you, trying to forget about the blank girl in the corner. She’s been fighting me since I trapped her, shouting for you the entire time. Maybe it’s about time I had a bit of _fun.”_

And then Cosette moved, took a step forward, raised her head, and it wasn’t her, was slightly stilted and a bit awkward (as if she was fighting back, God Éponine hoped she was fighting back), and yet it _was_ Cosette, with her blonde hair in two plaits on either side of her face that made her look younger than she was and her high-waisted jeans that she always wore, _because they make your stomach and butt look great, Éponine,_ she’d said when she bought them, and Éponine had tried not to look and she didn’t know why she was thinking about that now but she was and it hurt and Cosette was looking at her but not seeing her and Éponine looked wildly at the creature.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to make her kill you,” it said, sounding surprised that she’d asked. “It’s a bit over-used, perhaps, but deliciously twisted all the same, and so easy... simply possess someone, force them to kill the person they love most, release them so they see what they’ve done, and then kill _them_. Beautiful, easily executed, minimal effort from me, and so clean and tidy. Perfect, really,” it said, a sense of satisfaction in its voice. “Of course, it’s not actually _possession_ , as such, but it’s acceptable in this case to simplify it for you. After all, I am hungry.”

Éponine took a deep breath, and with understanding came a sense of resignation and determination. Sure, this might be the worst possible scenario. But at least she knew what was coming. She knew the motive of the creature and the power it had. She could work with that.

And then Cosette turned towards her, those creepy ass dead eyes staring at her, and she walked forward and picked up Éponine’s knife and then before Éponine could even brace, before she could ready herself to fight _Cosette,_ her partner, her _friend,_ Cosette had lunged towards her, swinging the knife with none of her usual finesse but still slicing up Éponine’s arm, cutting through the clothes and the skin.

Éponine hissed in pain, glancing down at the line of blood on her arm and then looking up in time to deflect Cosette’s next wild swing with her own knife. And then the fight truly started.

Cosette and Éponine had fought before. Fought with blunt knives and with dull swords. Sparred in hand to hand. Fought with sticks and staves and stakes. Trained together and fought together and fought against each other because they were both good and they wanted to get better. They were evenly matched in knife fights. On a normal day, that is.

Not when Cosette was possessed by a terrifying creature and was fighting with less skill than usual but with more viciousness and much less regard for her own safety. Not when Éponine was fighting defence, deflecting Cosette’s blows but not striking back, refusing to attack her friend.

And so they duelled and Éponine almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, the two of them fighting with short knives, using them like fucking long swords, an almost comical thing, and it was so familiar and so alien, Cosette’s movements not quite right and their usual laughter and joking missing…

And Cosette landed a few more hits on Éponine and Éponine continued to only defend herself, both their movements getting less controlled and less accurate as they tired, and the creature was in the corner again, a mass of shadow, watching and controlling and Éponine’s blood burned with terror and a dreadful impotent anger and fear for herself and for Cosette and then she flipped her blade up in a move that Cosette should have expected, a move Cosette _would_ have expected… but this wasn’t fully Cosette, and she wasn’t expecting it, and with a crash Cosette’s knife flew across the room, leaving Éponine standing with her own knife pressed to Cosette’s breastbone, right over her heart.

This was the part where Éponine would usually drop her knife to laugh and tease Cosette for dropping her guard and Cosette would pout and they would try again until Cosette was as good at the move as Éponine was… but this wasn’t training and this wasn’t really Cosette and so as Éponine instinctively lowered her blade, Cosette lunged forward, pressing Éponine up against the wall and grabbing her by the throat.

And oh it would be so easy to thrust up with the knife, slice under Cosette’s ribs and Éponine would have if she was fighting a monster but this was Cosette and her vision was going fuzzy and there was a ringing in her ears and a pounding in her heart and Cosette’s face was oh so blank as she wrapped her hands around Éponine’s throat... and Éponine let go of her knife and it clattered uselessly to the floor, helpless, unable to kill the girl she loved (oh and wasn’t it ironic that she was admitting it to herself when she was about to die) and Cosette's hands tightened and suddenly the creature’s words echoed in her head and without thinking, unable to breathe or to plan or to doubt, Éponine pushed herself forward and kissed Cosette. It wasn’t sweet or lovely or anything she’d hoped, it was a frantic messy one-sided press of her lips against Cosette’s. And it certainly wasn’t romantic or even consensual, with Cosette bloody _possessed_ and literally trying to kill her and Éponine couldn’t breathe and she didn’t know why she did it.

Maybe she was hoping to shock Cosette out of it, hoping to wake her up. Maybe she was just wanting one kiss before she died. Or maybe part of her was remembering the creature’s words. _“...the person they love most...”_ But whatever her reason, with the last of her strength she kissed Cosette, and then she fell back against the wall, vision going dark and fuzzy.

 And Cosette’s hands tightened even more and Éponine knew this was it and she was looking into Cosette’s eyes, wanting them to be the last thing she saw... and so she saw the change. She saw the blank gaze change from focused dullness to awareness and to relief and to recognition and to horror and to terror as Cosette _woke up_ and let go of Éponine’s throat.

Éponine slid helplessly down the wall, gasping and panting and wheezing and dragging in huge desperate painful breaths as Cosette stared down at her, frozen and obviously horrified and then she was grabbing Éponine’s knife from where she dropped it and she pivoted faster than Éponine’s dazed brain could follow and threw the knife at the monster standing in the corner.

Its bellow of pain and rage shot through Éponine like ice, but Cosette simply let out a yell of incoherent anger and drew another knife from her belt, twirling it in her hands and launching at the monster.

Éponine lay there, recovering her breath and watching in awe as Cosette spun and leapt around the room. The monster was bigger and stronger but Cosette was faster and fuelled with an intense anger and the monster couldn’t land a hit.

Cosette fired three knives one after the other, one two three embedding in the creature’s arm, but it still kept going, and Éponine suddenly remembered something about schali, even the strongest ones. About their healing power and their tolerance for pain and injury and the only way to kill them.

“Cut its head off,” she whispered, but Cosette couldn’t hear and Éponine couldn’t shout and Cosette was slowing and the creature knocked her sideways and Éponine struggled painfully to her feet, drawing her biggest knife from her belt. And Cosette was shouting at the creature, taunting it even as it kept moving towards her, and Éponine could only hope that she’d seen Éponine and was keeping distracted and she moved slowly and quietly behind the monster and then it _heard her_ and it turned and Cosette let out a wordless scream and stabbed it through the chest and as it faltered, Éponine brought the knife round in a clean, accurate swing that sliced through the creature’s neck...

And then the monster _exploded._ It burst into a disgusting shower of dark gunk and Éponine fell to the ground and shouted for Cosette and then Cosette was there and they were holding each other and Éponine was crying hopelessly as she held Cosette tight, kneeling in a pool of slime and blood and aching all over.

And Cosette was murmuring in her ear, frantic apologies but Éponine just held on, so damn happy that they were both still alive.

********

They walked back to the hostel in silence, Cosette clinging tightly to Éponine’s hand like it was a lifeline she was scared to let go of. Éponine took the time to compose herself, and to get used to Cosette again. She’d experienced a lot of shitty things in the past, but her best friend trying to kill her wasn’t something she was accustomed to. And of course she knew it hadn’t been Cosette, it hadn’t really been Cosette, just a monster wearing her body, but her throat was tender from where Cosette’s hands had choked her, and only the memory of the extreme self loathing in Cosette’s voice as she apologised, and the feeling of how Cosette was gripping her hand as if to make sure that Éponine was still there gave her the courage to hold on right back.

It might be horrible for Éponine, but it must be so much worse for Cosette. After all, Éponine had almost died before, but Cosette had never before tried to kill her.

Cosette was trembling slightly by the time they got back to the hotel, neither of them speaking, walking up to their room in the same silence that had followed them home. Cosette let go of Éponine’s hand and sank wordlessly onto one of the beds, sitting there and staring at the wall blankly.

Éponine took off her filthy jacket and draped it over one of the chairs, and then, not knowing how to deal with this, not knowing what to say or what to do, she slumped into the other chair, grabbed a cloth and started cleaning her weapons, thoroughly, one at a time, the familiar motions relaxing her.

Cosette was still stationary when she was done, and Éponine was sure her worry was plain on her face as she watched the other girl. She began to stand up and then winced at the ache, flexing her arm and remembering how Cosette’s blade had sliced her skin. She took stock of her injuries as she always did after a fight, categorising each one carefully. Aches and sprains all over her body, as usual, a few stinging cuts, a dull throbbing ache in the throat that she knew would blossom into bruises tomorrow, and the deep gash up her arm.

She pulled off her jumper and grabbed the first aid kit, taking out antiseptic and gauze and plasters, and the familiarity of this grated with the silence and stillness from Cosette.

After missions was usually a cheerful time, fixing up each other’s injuries and chatting and laughing, thankful and proud of a job well done, and it was this thought that led her to break the terrible silence in their tiny room, so late at night that it was early the next day.

“How did you do it?” Éponine asked, and she could tell from the stiffening in Cosette’s shoulders that she knew exactly what she meant.

 Cosette looked away from the wall to Éponine, and her eyes were deep and guilty. “How did I do what?” she said, feigning ignorance with a voice that was trying too hard to be steady, and Éponine could tell that she _knew._

“How did you break away from that _thing’s_ control?”

Cosette looked down at her lap, twisting her hands together.

“I could hear everything,” she said quietly, “and I could see what was happening, but it was all sort of... fuzzy around the edges. And I couldn’t control my body and I was shouting for you, I was screaming, but I wasn’t making any noise. And then the _monster_ made me attack you and, well, you know that part. I’m so sorry,” she said, finally looking up at Éponine across the room, and Éponine let her hand, holding a piece of gauze soaked in antiseptic, fall from her cut arm.

“It’s fine,” Éponine said, “honestly, I’ve had worse.”

“Yeah,” Cosette said, voice full of self-loathing, “but that wasn’t me all those other times.”

Éponine dropped the gauze and stood up, crossing the room in two quick strides and sitting down heavily on the bed next to Cosette, grabbing her fidgety hands and holding them tight. “That wasn’t your fault,” she said fiercely, “none of this was your fault.”

Cosette smiled faintly. “Thank you,” she said softly, but her face was tight and hurt, and she dropped her gaze again, staring at their entwined hands, Cosette’s pale hands with the pretty pastel nail varnish, chipped now, and Éponine’s darker, pale brown hands, nails bitten down, both of their hands calloused and rough from weapons and training.

“It was when you kissed me,” Cosette said, _whispered,_ her voice so soft that Éponine doubted what she’d heard. “And then instead of everything being fuzzy, you were just so clear, and I focused on you and then I... _pushed_ it out of my mind.”

She looked up then, looked straight into Éponine’s eyes, brown meeting blue, and her gaze was so intense and Éponine couldn’t look away. “Why did you do it?” she said, and there was a strength in her voice there hadn’t been before.

Éponine didn’t even pretend to misunderstand, and she didn’t look away. “I wanted to kiss you before I died,” she breathed, and Cosette inhaled shakily.

“Why?” she said, and the room was silent, the air still, their breathing the only noise.

“Because I love you,” said Éponine, and there was a roaring in her ears and Cosette’s eyes were _shining_ and she’d never said it before but she knew that it was true and she said it again, voice full of wonderment and awe, “I love you.”

Cosette was beaming and Éponine couldn’t help her own smile in return, the two of them just sitting on an uncomfortable bed, holding hands as tight as they could, beaming stupidly at each other.

“Can I kiss you?” Cosette asked cautiously, leaning in, and Éponine nodded so quickly she hurt her neck, and Cosette laughed. Éponine fake-glared at her and Cosette laughed again, a beautiful happy peal of laughter, and then she leaned in and captured Éponine’s lips with her own.

And oh it was better than Éponine could have imagined, because it wasn’t perfect. The angle was awkward and her arm was twisted and Cosette was holding her hands so tightly they hurt but she was kissing Cosette and it was amazing.

They broke apart, and Cosette rested her forehead against Éponine’s and breathed out shakily, and they were quiet, both of them, heads pressed together and breath mingling.

“We can’t-“ began Cosette and broke off, but Éponine understood. Because as much as she wanted to kiss Cosette again and never stop, they'd both been shaken and Éponine had almost died and Cosette had almost killed her and the two of them were strong, and had seen more than most people and survived things that others would have died from and endured horrific experiences and emerged relatively sane, but even they couldn't just move on from that so easy.

So Éponine pressed one more light kiss to Cosette’s lips and then stood up. “I’m going to have a shower, if that’s alright,” she said carefully, “and then you should have a shower, and then we should phone Combeferre, and then we should sleep.”

And she let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding when Cosette nodded.

“You’ll be okay?” Éponine said, and Cosette smiled up at her.

“I know you’re trying to protect me, and I appreciate it, and as much as it pains me to admit it I do feel very fragile right now, but I’ll be fine while you go to the bathroom, okay?”

Éponine smiled back, chastised, and then collected her towel and washing stuff and clean, soft pyjamas, and then went for her shower.

She stood for far too long in the stream of hot water, letting it ease her aches and pains and composing her thoughts and silently freaking out. Partially because _Cosette had kissed her_ and she’d been wanting that for _ages_ , and partially because of the bruises forming on her neck that Cosette had put there.

When she came out of the bathroom, clean and dry and dressed in comfy clothes and feeling much better, Cosette had cleaned all of her weapons and was packing them away. She smiled. This was a familiar sight, Cosette packing up before they’d even recovered properly.

“Can’t that wait til tomorrow?” Éponine said, and even this was familiar and comforting, and it was like nothing had changed as Cosette stuck her tongue out and got to her feet, grabbing her toiletries and elbowing Éponine as she passed.

“It _can,_ ” she said, “but we’re not all slobs like you.”

Éponine gasped in fake hurt and Cosette laughed as she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

The shower started up, the rush of water and soothing constant in the background as Éponine wandered around the room, picking up the things she’d dumped wherever and sighing at the mess that was her favourite jacket. She picked it up and looked sadly at it, covered in blood and mud and some odd slimy substance, ripped and torn. They had a great specialist cleaner back home, hopefully this could be fixed.

She was so deep in mourning for her jacket that she didn’t hear the shower stop, and almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Cosette chuckle.

“You have a weird attachment to that jacket,” she said, and Éponine pouted.

“This is the best jacket ever,” she said, draping it carefully back over the chair and turning around. Cosette was standing with her phone in her hand, looking expectant.

“Shall we phone Combeferre?” she asked, and Éponine nodded.

“But maybe... maybe don’t tell him everything just yet,” Éponine said hesitantly. “We don’t want him to worry,” and Cosette nodded her agreement.

So they phoned Combeferre, telling him the bare bones of what had happened, and then hung with a promise to tell him everything when they got back, I can tell when you’re holding something back, _Éponine,_ and then they turned, yawning, to bed.

There was a brief awkward moment as they looked at the two single beds and then Cosette smiled gently and grabbed Éponine's hand, pulling her down onto the bed with her. They were both so tired and Éponine thought it might be strange but it wasn’t, as they cuddled close and it didn’t feel stupid, not at all. Éponine felt safe and warm and loved and within minutes they were both out like a light. 

And tomorrow they'd have lots to talk about, and lots to tell Combeferre when they got home, and so much to work out. But they could do it. And they would. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/holIyshort)\- come and say hi!


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